here is the link for picture of this mystery.

Here is a link that might be useful: mystery plant

That is cleome, or spider flower. I also got one at the plant swap.
It is an annual, but as you say it self seeds very well and can make lots of baby plants if its in good soil. I like this "old fashioned" annual behind shorter plants, as long as it doesn't get blown over in a storm and have to be staked and all.

thanks Todd. It sure grew quickly!

You probably got it from Jill...I know she gave me a pot of them. Mine are really pretty in my butterfly garden area. I also have some blooming that I planted from seed my sister gave me.
Here's a photo of the ones I got from the Jill at the swap.
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and here's one of them blooming in my butterfly garden. The ones from the swap are the farthest back and the close up ones are the ones I grew from seed.
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Jan

i have grown them for many years now and do like them as background plants. the sphinx moths seem to love them and are interesting to watch in early evening. i have found that they respond well to pinching back when about a foot tall before they produce the first flower buds . they will branch and produce a lot of flowers. they also don't seem to blow over as easily.
the foliage stinks, though, doesn't it?

So do they self-sow for next year? Seems like a ton of little pods all over the plant. I cut most of them off since I didn't want it to seed in its current location. However, since so many of you recommend it, I think I would like to grow this, but in a different spot next year. Will the seeds keep till next spring? Thanks all. Dana

yes, they will produce an abundance of seeds that will come up next year if allowed to mature on the plant. the seedlings appear in late spring and are easily pulled out.
the seeds will be fine in storage for several years. i try to remove all of the early pods and just leave a few to harvest late in the season. when the pods turn brown, they are mature. just store them in a plastic bag with no special requirements until ready to sow. my planting area only gets about 4 hours of direct sun and they do fine.